Court’s police takeover costing Oakland millions

No matter what the outcome, the federal court takeover of the Oakland Police Department is going to cost taxpayers millions — starting with the $270,000-plus-a-year salary for the new compliance director.
That’s $13,000 more than what former Police Chief Howard Jordan was making before he jumped — or was pushed — into medical retirement this month.
In addition to the $270,000 salary, compliance director Thomas Frazier will receive benefits equal to those paid to the city administrator and the police chief, including any unused vacation, sick or executive leave that can be cashed out when the job ends.
The city is contesting the benefit extras, which U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson included in his order to the city last month. However, it is not appealing Frazier’s salary.
The judge also provided for Frazier’s support team, whose three members will cost the city $110 to $200 an hour apiece. When all’s said and done, their bill could total $385,000.
Plus there’s a host of expenses for Frazier and his group, including $500,000 for police radios and a computer, $200,000 for a techie to work on the radios and other equipment, , $100,000 for a fingerprint reader and $250,000 for leadership training programs.
Frazier is also hiring monitors to collect data on officers’ use of force and racial profiling at a cost of $400,000.
Put it all together, and the package is already over $2 million.
And from what we hear, that’s just the start.
For more M&R, including the latest predictions for Jerry Brown’s budget, Mayor Ed Lee’s ongoing courtship of the Warriors and the San Francisco sheriff’s new, $560,000 mobile command vehicle, read here.